back to school!

Woohoo, back to college. The past few weeks have been a flurry of packing, driving, unpacking, and lists of things I forgot. I have things laying about the room, and I can't seem to get organised. But who cares? I have a tote completely dedicated to my yarn! I'm a happy camper indeed.

So that's how my life has been. I finally have an Etsy set up, along with my Paypal, but I need to start powering things out that I can sell. Unfortunately, that can only happen when I'm not in class. I made the mistake last year of bringing my crochet to class with me, and I never got anything done. Well, as far as learning goes. I got a lot of projects done!

Speaking of projects, I'm currently working on a large scarf. I'm using Loops and Threads Country Loom, and I absolutely adore it. It works up very quickly, and if I had to complain about anything, it would be the fact that one skein only has 104 yards. But it is a super bulky yarn, so what can you do?

Once my scarf is done, I think I'll try playing around with warping the pattern into something that I can use for cowls, or skinnier scarves. Or maybe I'll make the stegosaurus that my boyfriend has been wanting. Chances are good that I'll tackle both at once and give myself a headache, so that will be fun!

Lovely segue there: headaches and fun. The fun bit is that I've finished my first large project, a blanket! It was a gift for a friend that was in the hospital (no worries, he's fine now). I used a nice wave pattern and whipped it up in about a week. The headache part is that my lip is swelled preposterously. I got my lip pierced last week, and it's a tad painful. So to distract myself, I've been tackling things like cross stitching. Now, I am completely enamored with cross stitching. It's so much fun, and I can tote around small projects easier than I can my crochet projects.

So yes. That's my life so far in college. More later.

mad hattery

I love hats.

So when I wanted to crochet myself a nice beanie, I found a few patterns that fit the bill nicely. Sweet, simple, and to the point. The pattern I ended up attempting used front-post double crochet, which I have been dying to try.

So when I made the hat, and it was far too tight, I was sad. I frogged it halfway, added more increases, and did it again. Still no. now, it was a little too loose, and still too short. Dang. I frogged it halfway again, looked at it, and laughed. I proceeded to make my own pattern.

Now, I know that I leap-frogged off of the pattern (for those of you wondering, it was this hat), and I'm not claiming that it's my own, totally original idea. But it is a variation, and my own pattern. And I small step in the right direction for making my very own original hats.

Food for thought: If almost everything has been done before, can one say that he has created a "completely original" item? Can't all patterns be seen to have been leap-frogged off of each other?

picking up the dusty needles?

This was spurred on by my love and obsession of the Weasley sweaters that dear Molly Weasley makes for the kids for Christmas. I do so want one.

So, is it time for me to test the waters of knitting once more? I am enamored with the look and feel of knit sweaters, and I know that a crochet sweater won't have the same feel. So, do I suck it up and crochet a sweater?

Or do I finally take the dive, and further my knitting skills? I admit, whenever I look at knitting patterns, I become intimidated. Bind off 18 stitches, place 12 on stitch holder, bind off remaining...Huh? I try to visualize the instructions, but I only manage to become more confused. Does anyone have a good video tutorial, or maybe a detailed photo tutorial?

Will post more on the potential knitting later.

help! i need somebody!

Help! Not just anybody!

Calling all Cupcake Crochet readers! I know that there aren't many of you out there, but if you're reading this, perhaps you can help me.

You see, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've been trying to get into tapestry crochet, and I've found one or two tutorials for it. However, I'm a bit stuck on how to do it in a turned piece. And it doesn't really help that I've found it difficult to follow the directions in the view videos that I found.

So, dearest readers, have you any help to offer? A tutorial, a video, even a book that you found helpful? Did a friend of a friend's mom's cousin mention a trick he or she found helpful?

If so, I'd love to know! Tapestry crochet has thus far befuddled me, and I'd be grateful for any help at all.

I'm also interested in knowing what everyone's favorite method is to join two pieces! So, feel free to comment with your favorite technique!

go team!

Wow, three posts within a couple of days! I guess I'm trying to make up for lost time...

It's the Olympics once again, and when I'm not crocheting, I'm watching the games avidly! I'll watch almost all of it.

And I won't just cheer for the US teams, either. Mom and I will sit in the basement, yelling, "Go Germany! Go Canada! Go Great Britain!" We'll cheer for everyone, which I think is great. We watch events where the US isn't even participating, and cheer other countries on. We just like to watch the events! I mean, sure, we want the US to win, but there's more to winning than just getting a gold medal. The Olympics are all about sportsmanship and unity. I'm truly bothered when people think that unless they get a gold, they lose. Not bothered in a "wow I dislike you" way, but rather a "wow, I kind of feel sorry that you don't see the bigger picture" way. And I know that other countries have different customs and different ideals. I'm not insulting that. I'm just talking in general.

Speaking of cheering for other people, I was a huge fan of the 200 meter butterfly, where Michael Phelps got silver. The reason that I liked it, though, was because Chad le Clos, from South Africa, won gold. The announcers mentioned that he's a huge fan of Phelps, and for me, that's just awesome. He gets to say, "I won a gold medal at the Olympics," but it's also more than that. Le Clos gets to swell with pride and say, "I not only won an Olympic gold medal, but I beat one of my idols to do it."

Come on. Who doesn't get chills when they think about that? There are a lot of awesome and inspiring stories regarding the Olympians. The US woman who got gold in Judo: The first Olympic gold medal that the US has ever had in that event, plus she overcame being sexually abused by her first Judo trainer as a child. The Mexican women who won silver and bronze in the women's individual archery: Mexico, in this event, had never won an Olympic medal. And these are just the examples off of the top of my head. I don't know about you, but I get goosebumps.

On a less thrilling side note, my feathers have gotten rather ruffled over the women's soccer quarter final, in which USA played New Zealand. The game started awesomely, the US ladies didn't seem quite on their game, but the ref was calling fair fouls. That, by the way, is a huge pet peeve of mine: When a ref will be very "lopsided" with their calls. I mean, really? You'll turn a blind eye to the slide-tackle that team X made on team Y (when you're looking straight at them!), but you'll barely see the same foul when team Y does it to team X, and immediately issue a yellow card! I've seen it happen, and it doesn't matter who the teams are, it irritates me. I have choice words for refs like that, and none of them are polite. Anyway, as the game went on, the ref became more and more lopsided. I mean, really, you'll let them shove our girl to the ground, but if one of ours barely glances her, you'll card her? Are you serious? And no, I'm not saying that all of the fouls called on the US team were false; most of them were spot-on. But really? I'm seeing a lot of fouls from New Zealand that aren't being called. I do not approve, ref. Get your eyes checked, please.

On a lighter note, I love the where's-waldo-esque jerseys of the US team. I think they should all get glasses, to complete the look.

edit 8/7/2012: Wow. Fixed a couple of sentences. I was in such a hurry to get all of my thoughts out, that I had a couple of typos. For example, the woman who got the US a gold in Judo: I made it sound like the US had never won a gold in anything before. Oops. XD

works in progress

Part two of my "back from hiatus" post. I felt that the first one was sooo long, and that I should be kind to my readers, and break it into two parts.

Here are other things that I'm working on, because obviously one project at a time is not enough. These are also things that I've recently finished, but don't yet have pictures for.

- I'm creating a Cupcake Crochet "mascot!" or at least an official symbol. I'm going to take it with me when I go to sell things, like at the Oktoberfest in our town. I'm using this pattern, a regular old cupcake pattern (another free Ravelry pattern). However, to make it bigger, I'm using a bulky yarn and a size J hook. Hopefully, since the hook makes the stitches a bit tight, it will hold the stuffing.

- More information on my baby blanket adventure, that was very briefly mentioned in the previous post. I thought to myself, "Oh, my, baby items are small. So, if I want to sell things, I should also make baby items, because they're so fast to make!"
Well, this may be true for baby hats and booties. But, to no one's surprise but my own, baby blankets can still be tedious. Especially when one uses worsted weight yarn, as opposed to something like bulky. I used an original pattern, and set to work. Well, I got 35 rows into it, and wanted to tear my hair out. I'm just not great with the longer projects. I get bored, because I'm admittedly an instant-gratification type of person, and eventually this blanket was reserved for car rides; I'd get one or two rows done to and from shopping with Mom. So, in a stroke of genius, I finished it off! Why torture myself with one long, boring rectangle, when I can have a rectangle surrounded by granny squares! I'm a huge fan of grannies. They're quick, relatively easy, and I get instant results. So, more on that blanket later.

- I recently taught my lovely mother how to crochet (not really the usual order, is it?). So, in an act of love, she wanted to make me a cowl. On a side note, I love her dearly, because she keeps forgetting that there's an "l" at the end, and calls them cows. So, in order to teach her a new skill (holding two strands of yarns together, and crochet with both of them) I picked out black and blue sparkly yarn. Where I found that the yarn and the pattern I picked out for her were very easy to work with, for the life of her, she just couldn't get it. So I, very happily, took over. I used Loops and Threads (the Michael's brand, for those of you unfamiliar with it) Impeccable Glitter. I thought it was simply a dream to work with. It holds its shape very nicely, and really didn't have any trouble distinguishing the back loops, which I needed for the cowl.

- Well, I finished the cowl with plenty of yarn left over, so I set out to make a matching hat. For this, I needed something that doesn't use a lot of yardage, especially since I had no clue how much I had left. I found the waffle cone slouchy hat, which is a free pattern by the lovely Julie over at the Gleeful Things blog. It's not quite done yet, but it's working up to be wonderful.

- My mom was quite taken with some super bulky holiday yarn that was on sale at Michael's, so I picked up a couple skeins as well. As it turns out, I didn't really care for it. It's a novelty yarn, one of those numbers that's super plush and squishy, but it distinctly isn't typical yarn. So, unwilling to totally give up on it, between two skeins I managed to whip up three holiday cowls. They're red and white striped, and one ended up slightly, well, deformed. It's got a bit of a dip in it, and the stripes are rather awkward, but I'm on a mission to pick up a nice candy cane pin for it. To boost its self-esteem, I suppose.

- My personal favorite out of my recent conquests has been my wave scarf. I wanted to sate my curiosity about crocheting waves, so I made a scarf to practice! It alternates between mint green and dark blue every two rows, and turned into a lovely scarf. However, it was rather tedious to make. This time, I'm not complaining out of boredom; my wrists were throbbing after a while, because I wasn't working with either color long enough to settle into a rhythm. I think that once I sell it, I won't make another that alternates colors so often. Or, I'll go long-ways, instead of crocheting width-ways. I'll have to play around with it.


Well, that's all for now! Like I said, once I go back to school, I'll try to set aside time once a week to post. Or, at least make a conscious effort to write a little throughout the week, and post the final product on Friday or Saturday. I promise to do my best! Look out for posted updates on the hat, amigurumi, and pieced-together baby blanket!

sorry for the hiatus; lots of yarn!

Welcome to another post for Cupcake Crochet! I am enormously sorry for the unintentional hiatus. I've been so busy with life, that I just haven't been able to set aside time for blogging! Fortunately, since I'll soon be returning to college, I should be able to set aside time once a week or so to blog properly. Whether it's a new project, or thoughts, or plans, I'll try to get something posted. You may even get guest posts from my suitemates, three of whom also do yarn crafts! So, without further ado, here's a super-long-end-of-hiatus-post!

So, to fill you all in: I've been doing a LOT of crochet. I've done a baby hat, baby booties, a baby blanket (still in progress), several cowls (my new addiction), and a scarf. I'm also testing the waters of making amigurumi, which is so much fun! I've sadly mostly given up on knitting. Try as I might, I couldn't get the hang of anything but squares and rectangles. Crochet, on the other hand, I can pick up fairly easily. So my knitting needles are taking a vacation. Possibly a very long vacation.

My big adventure has been to make things that I can sell. As a college student, it's always great to have extra cash. True, I have a job, but I'm really making an effort to reserve that money for books and other college necessities.

First off, here are a few cowls that I've done. That I have pictures for, at least.

- I made the lovely Diagon cowl, which is a free pattern on Ravelry. Modeled by my fantastic younger brother (ambushed before he went to sleep to do the modeling...). I'll come right out and say it; I chose him, because his head is huge. I was concerned, because I used a smaller yarn than the pattern called for. I loved this pattern because it was really simple to work up, and it didn't take a lot of yarn; maybe 60 yards. I'm not quite sure how much yarn was in the skein, but I comfortably got two cowls out of it. I highly recommend the pattern!

Brother giving me an "I'm so creepy" expression.

...yeah, there's no way to explain this.

- Nextly, we have a lovely striped cowl. This pattern was not my own, but I can't find my source D: So I'm terribly sorry, I can't share the pattern with you all. But it was a lot of fun to make, trust me. The yarn, I rescued from the discount bin at Michael's. I fell in love it immediately, because it was thick and squishy and soft!

"Not bad."

Here's a picture of us both! Yay for silliness!

- Here, we have the fantastic Black Hole cowl. Again, a free pattern on Ravelry. I admit, it was slightly tedious to work up, but that's only because I was being impatient. This was made with Lionbrand homespun yarn, which I had never used before. I have one more skein of it, but after that, I don't know if I'll invest in more. I personally like yarn that can take a bit of a beating, and this yarn felt slightly fragile when I tugged on it. I actually snapped a few pieces when I was working and frogging it, since I tried out a few patterns before settling on this one. It was commissioned by my boyfriend's mom, who simply asked for something to keep her neck warm.

My version of the Black Hole cowl, presented by my boyfriend's sister.

- This is a tiny octopus wearing a blue top hat. I really don't have any other comments.

aforementioned hat

Spider Web Slouchy Hat
size G crochet hook
about half a skein of Loops and Threads worsted weight yarn in some sort of rainbow color.

I thought that hat deserved its own post. :]
The hat was made from this lovely pattern:
Ravelry link to the free pattern.
And this is her blog.

By the way, this pattern is free! She's got other free patterns that all look fantastic, so pop over and have a look!


At first, I thought the pattern looked rather complex. But I figured go big or go home, right? So I didn't want to stay in my comfort zone for my first hat.


Next to grannies, this is the easiest project I have ever tackled. I mean it. The entire beret is chaining and double crochet, with some single crochet tacked on both ends. The pattern is simple and very easy to understand, and the hat only took me 3.5 hours, I think.


I started with a magic circle. Since it was my first time attempting a magic circle, I used a tutorial. Look, I'm a link!
So, on to pictures:

As you can see, I had made quite a bit of the hat before it occurred to me to take pictures. Halfway through, I discovered a neat trick: if you lose track of how many you're supposed to chain before the next dc, count out from the center round, starting with zero (when I say "center round," I'm referring to the 12 sc made into the magic circle). When you get to the round you're on, that's the number you have to chain. Sure, it only works for the nine rows after the magic circle, but the hat only has 20 rounds.

A few rows farther. Sorry for the not-fabulous photos; I temporarily lost my brain, and used my phone instead of my lovely camera.

Oh look! It's a hat! I've never actually worn a slouchy hat/beret before, so I'm still experimenting with how to actually wear them. Also, my hair is preposterously red. My mom was horrified.


So yeah! That's the awesomesauce hat. I still managed to do my German homework while crocheting it, though.

updates and granny squares!

So, hey there! It's Cupcake with an update of sorts.

My life has been absorbed by college and exams, much to my disdain. My writing has launched itself into my brain, so that urge had to be attended to. On top of all that, both of my wrists have been on the fritz. Yippee!

I have been filling any free time I have (when my wrists cooperate, that is) with making granny squares. I am completely and totally addicted. In fact, I've taken a small stock of my squares and pieced them together to start off one of my blankets. Right now, it makes a fair lapghan. Sadly, I did not think to take any pictures of my pretty little squares before piecing them together.

The squares were made with a size G crochet hook and worsted weight yarn.

I've also been busying myself with making squares using Redheart baby soft yarn. It's a right pain in my behind, since I've never worked with a yarn quite like it before. But I'm starting to get the hang of it, and I'm making plans for that blanket, as well. It's a bulky yarn, but I've been using a size J hook. No pictures at present, but I'm fond of the tension that the yarn/hook combo makes.

And alas! There's more! In an effort to distract myself from doing German homework, I made my first hat! I decided that it was finally time to escape simple projects like scarves and grannies, so I tackled a beret. It was a whole lot easier than I had thought it would be, and I'm very excited to start designing my own patterns. That, unfortunately, will wait until I have much more experience.

cozy mania~

Hello everyone! It's a cozy party in my dorm room! After I made the mug cozy for my boss, I instantly dove into hooking one for my friend. But instead of sticking to a pattern, I decided to just wing it. And this time I even have pictures! *dance party*

See! It's my friend's mug and her brand new mug cozy! I didn't have any more buttons, so she got a lumpy yarn flower...thing. The only problem that I had was working with the green yarn. It was a pain and a half, since it was so much thinner than my yarn. On top of that, the mug is a funny shape, so it needed several increases and decreases, so I needed to learn how to do them on the fly. But everything worked out, and it looks so nice, if I do say so myself! It's made of both single crochet and half-double crochet, to give it a little more cushion.

And now here's mine! Covering my lovely Rutgers mug!<3 The purple is my boyfriend's favorite color, and red is mine. It wasn't as hard as my friend's was, since it only needed one increase. I made it all (aside from the very bottom) in single crochet, so it would be a little more firm. I managed to teach myself how to carry along the yarn when I'm not using it, so I didn't have to cut and weave for every layer. I am, admittedly, a bit worried that the gap for the handle is too wide, but I shall not allow myself to be bothered by it!

~Cupcake

It's alive!

Already a successful crochet project!


No picture at the moment, but I have successfully crafted a mug cozy for my wonderful boss.
I used this pattern, found through Ravelry (if you're not a member yet, go sign up! It's a dream for all yarnworkers): http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/coffee-mug-cozy-2


The pattern was a piece of cake! It only took me an hour or so from start to finish.


On top of that, my big WIP project is my friend's blanket. It's only a couple feet long, and it's really not too bad difficulty-wise. The hard part is actually doing it.


I usually get distracted by new obsession: granny squares. But more on those later, once I have some pictures.


I proceeded to hatch the brilliant plan of making my own pattern. Alright, so it wasn't the best idea, since I've only been crocheting for a few weeks. But since my boyfriend sometimes comments that his fingers get cold while drinking Monster. So, like the loving girlfriend I am, I came up with a Monster Cozy. I won't say anything about that now, since I'm going to post the pattern I came up with!


~cupcake

Introducing...me

Firstly, an introduction post. My name is Heather, and I am addicted to knitting, crocheting, and writing. I am shy, silly, friendly, and if I make a true friend they have me forever. I study psychology at Rutgers University, and never seem to have enough yarn. My lovely boyfriend of three years has dove head-first into my addiction. Birthday and Christmas presents last year included copious amounts of yarn and supplies.


I have always liked having an outlet for ideas and thoughts, but I found diaries to be silly. "Why," I thought to myself, "would I want to put a thought out into the universe, only to have the world carry on, blind to it?" So, through blogging, I can get my voice out, rant, and ponder. All the while, anyone who cares enough can read it and tell me their own thoughts on the matter. Absolutely perfect, right?


So, here I am. I don't really care who reads this blog, or if you want to give me suggestions on life, crocheting, knitting, or running a blog. I can tell you that I'm always up for suggestions, and there will be so much more than just crochet on this blog.


Crochet, knit, and a touch of life. Just for, you know, good measure.


~cupcake